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NATO and US officials have put an end to FYROM’s slim hopes that it
may get anything more than warm words at the forthcoming NATO summit in
Chicago in a few days.
Resolving the "name" dispute with Greece remains the condition for FYROM’s NATO accession, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
told Radio Free Europe ahead of the summit that starts on May 20-21.
The Alliance's position remains unchanged, he said, and is still based on the decision taken at the 2008 Bucharest summit, when NATO deemed FYROM ready to join once it concludes the long-standing name issue with Greece.
The Alliance's position remains unchanged, he said, and is still based on the decision taken at the 2008 Bucharest summit, when NATO deemed FYROM ready to join once it concludes the long-standing name issue with Greece.
"Unfortunately, there has not been progress in this direction. Nevertheless, the decision we took four years ago continues to apply," Rasmussen said.
This sentiment was also clear in the words of the US Assistant Secretary of State, Philip Gordon, who last week told the US Senate that NATO would admit no new members at the forthcoming summit in Chicago.
“In view of FYROM, the country has met the key membership criteria. The United States remains engaged and supports negotiations aimed at solving the name row [with Greece], led by UN envoy Matthew Nimetz,” Gordon said.
Agreeing that FYROM should not now nurture big hopes of the summit, FYROM’s Deputy Defence Minister Emil Dimitriev said that the latest remarks “will not discourage us from our goal of becoming NATO members because we deserve it”.
FYROM has been an active participant in several NATO-led missions. The country currently has some 160 troops in the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan and has been repeatedly praised for its efforts there.
In 2008 Greece "blocked" Macedonia’s accession at the Bucharest NATO Summit, saying that its neighbour’s use of the name “Macedonia” implies a territorial claim to its northern province of the same name.
Since then, NATO has repeatedly demanded a solution to the dispute before FYROM can be invited to join.
Last December, the International Court of Justice, ICJ, ruled that Greece had breached an interim deal brokered by the UN in 1995 when it "blocked" FYROM’s attempt to join NATO.
However, the court did not directly order Greece to stop the blockade, as FYROM had requested.
In a last-ditch attempt to boost its chances in Chicago, using the ruling of the ICJ as its main argument, FYROM's parliament recently passed a declaration reaffirming the country’s commitment to NATO membership.
However, the UN-led name talks with Greece have not moved forward for over a year. There have been only few meetings between the two parties but they have been viewed as nothing more than exchanges of pleasantries.
Sinisa Jakov-Marusic Balkan Insight
*(After the necessary corrections with the name "FYROM".
GREECE recognised this country with the name "FYROM")
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